


Perfect Cents

by Metal_Gear_Steve



Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: (sparingly), Alcoholism, Diary/Journal, Gen, Lighthearted, Ship Tease, a day in the life
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-20
Updated: 2019-10-01
Packaged: 2020-09-19 03:41:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 4,509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20324500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Metal_Gear_Steve/pseuds/Metal_Gear_Steve
Summary: Penny Winters is the biggest bookworm in Pelican Town. She's always got her nose in a book, at least when she's not taking care of her mother or spending time with a couple of childhood friends. But her affinity for literature has never blossomed into a love for writing - which is why Sebastian's latest Winter Star gift has her reeling.For the first time in her life, Penny finds herself maintaining a diary.This is a diary fic written from Penny's point of view. May be left incomplete - see notes for details





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, welcome to my fanfic. This is a project I started about a year and a half ago - I decided to write this story in short, easily digestible chunks, detailing a year in Penny's life in Pelican Town. The plan was to start publishing when I was halfway through the story. The issue is that I stopped writing it some time last year and never got back to it.
> 
> There are 16 complete chapters, and I plan to post them all for posterity's sake. I won't promise any chapters after that, but I could see myself falling back in love with the project and having a second wind.
> 
> Chapters are scheduled for weekly releases. If there's interest I can pick up the pace, but there's no use info-dumping and scaring newer readers away with a massive word count. I wrote each chapter to be easy to digest, and 16 chapters/thousands of words popping up on the Stardew Valley feed out of the blue does not facilitate the sort of reading environment that I want to foster.
> 
> Ultimately, my main motivation for doing things this way is that I would rather have these chapters out in the open instead of keeping them stuck away in my phone's Memo app. I hope you enjoy the story.

**Chapter One - Day 1 of Spring, Year 1**

Dear... Diary? Journal? Log?

I'm not used to this sort of thing yet - I've never kept a diary because I like to read more than I like to write. But I got this empty journal from Sebastian for the Feast of the Winter Star, and it'd be a shame to let it go to waste. I'm not sure what I should even write about yet - all I can think to do is maybe explain who I am and what I'm like. But I'm the only person who'll ever be able to read this book in the first place, so isn't this all kind of pointless?

Regardless, I have to start somewhere. I guess I'm going to introduce myself to an empty book.

So, uhh... hi. I guess this is a diary. My name is Penny Winters, and <strike>I'll be writing in you for</strike> I'll be documenting my life in parts within the following pages. If something interesting happens, I guess it'll show up in this book.

Today's the first day of Spring - the winter snow has already melted, and the trees around town are growing their leaves back. I've never really left Pelican Town, but I've heard from others that it's fairly unusual for conditions to change this fast outside of the valley. I don't mind either way - it's all I've ever known, really.

Aside from that, not much has changed. Pierre's stock has rotated to account for the new season, as has Jojamart's. Things are normal, for the most part.

There is a new arrival coming to Pelican Town today, though - a man around my age, who's inherited the old farm to the west of town. That place has been deserted for years, I think the last farmer was an old friend of Mayor Lewis. I heard that he left town decades ago, and I guess he died a while back. That's sad - I hope Mayor Lewis is okay.

Maybe I'll go over to say hello. I have some light reading to go through, and then later I'll be cleaning the trailer. I hope they're nice.

That's all I have to say for now. <strike>I guess I'll see you later...?</strike> I'll be back when something interesting comes to me.

Sincerely, the owner of this diary,

Penny


	2. Day 7 of Spring

Dear diary,

I met that new farmer today. It seems like half the town has met him by now - he doesn't seem to leave the farm too much.

I heard about him from Sam and Abigail. They said he was pleasant to talk to - and according to them, he was kind of gangly and bespectacled. Meeting him for myself, I could see what they meant - he's fairly skinny, a bit too tall and he wears a thick pair of glasses. He seems nice, though.

I met him in town, he was on his way to Pierre's to buy some seeds. It must have taken a while to prepare his farm - he said he's been chopping down trees and breaking rocks all week. Being a farmer sounds like hard work already, but preparing that old abandoned farmstead must be a challenge in and of itself.

I have to say - he didn't really seem like the farming type. Maybe his grandpa meant a lot to him, and he decided to take up his farm as a measure of respect. Or maybe it's a case of appearances being deceiving. I don't know.

Right now, I don't know how to feel about him. He introduced himself as Jeff, and he seems nice enough. No-one who's met him has had anything bad to say about him (at least, not in my experience).

Mom made a trip to Jojamart today and came back in a bad mood. She said she ran into Pierre on the way home and he said something rude - she didn't really say what it was. She went to the bar after putting the groceries away.

I'm worried about her drinking too much. She's been drinking every day since she lost her job, and she tends to overdo it when she's in a bad mood. I'm a bit scared.

I've read through most of my library books from last year. I'll be able to return them all on time, thankfully. I think I'm going to check out The Fisherman next, it doesn't interest me much with the premise but Willy told me I'll probably like it. What can be so entertaining about a play about fishing?

Anyway, that's about it for today. Sincerely, Penny.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapters will be a bit more frequent over the next week due to length, and also taking the time frame between chapters into account. I hope you like the style of the story so far!


	3. Day 8 of Spring

Dear diary,

The trailer is still fairly clean, so I didn't have many chores to do today. I had a few hours before it was time to tutor Jas and Vincent, and there were a few library books that I needed to return - so I took the opportunity to go to the library.

I like to look around for new, interesting books when I can, even when I still have stories to read. I have a few library books I need to read through, but there's always so many options to choose from every time I go to the library. I go there a lot to browse.

I found a book that was dedicated to growing spring crops, which reminded me of the farmer I met yesterday. He was only just starting to till his land, and with how large his field is, I imagine he'll be too busy clearing the area to plant many crops.

I think it'll be fun to grow something, and maybe I can give it to him as a welcoming present - if it even grows in the first place. I brought the book home with me before I went to my tutoring job, and I've been looking through it ever since I got home. I'm trying to find a plant that I like the sound of.

Once I pick one, I'll go to Pierre's and see if he has any seeds in stock. I should be able to afford it...

That's about it for now. Sincerely, Penny.


	4. Day 9 of Spring

Dear diary,

It turns out I didn't have to go to Pierre's after all. I had a look through my stuff to see if I had any spare change, and I found a package of strawberry seeds!

I don't know where I got these. The packaging looks a bit dry, like it's been sitting for a long time. Maybe Maru brought them here after her dad ran some horticultural tests? It's the only thing I can think of that makes any sense, and it's still a stretch.

I planted them in a small plastic container, which I left on my windowsill overnight. I was surprised to see some greenery poking through the top soil when I woke up this morning - maybe I have a talent for this sort of thing. I just gave the poor thing a drink of water, the soil seems to dry out pretty quickly in my room.

I'm going to hang out with Sam this afternoon, after I tidy the trailer up a bit. Maru might join us if she doesn't have any chores, maybe I can ask her about the seeds if I get to see her.

I think Mom just left to go to the bar. I'm going to do some tidying, then go see Sam. I'll write more soon. Sincerely, Penny.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is tiny, so I'll be posting Chapter 5 at the end of the week. I actually have chapters 3 - 5 in the same document, partially due to length. I just wrote them in a block at the time.


	5. Day 11 of Spring

Dear diary,

The plant has grown a little more. I moved it into a ceramic pot last night, it looked a bit crowded in the first container I planted it in. I might be able to give this to Jeff before the Egg Festival - or maybe I can give it to him on the day. Either way, I'm glad to see how well the plant is coming along.

I got to ask Maru about the seeds, but she had no idea what I was talking about. I even asked Sam, just in case he knew - he didn't. I wonder where I got them.

Either way, my strawberry plant is growing nicely. That's all that matters.

I saw Gus in town yesterday, he was putting a monster-slaying request on the bulletin board. He said there's been a recent Slime outbreak in the mines, and he needs someone to cull the local population. I've never seen a Slime, but I've been told all my life that they can kill if you don't take them seriously - something about their name sounds so nice and squishy, but I've known better than to go out looking for them. I hope no-one gets hurt.

That's it for today. Two more days until the egg festival - I can't wait.

Sincerely, Penny.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next week's chapter is going to be a bit of a departure. I mean, it's the Egg Festival - if you don't go all out for the Egg Festival, then when do you go all out?
> 
> Thank you all so much for the kudos and comments, I'm glad to see people enjoying the story!


	6. Day 13 of Spring - The Egg Festival

Dear Diary,

Today's the day of the Egg Festival. My strawberry plant is looking really healthy - it's a pretty sizable plant now, with small white strawberries forming on little stalks. It'll probably bear fruit within the month.

I've really enjoyed growing something green, but I don't think I could make a living out of it. It's fairly dirty work, and even if I wanted to take up gardening, I just don't have the room around my home to make this a regular hobby. Still - this was a lot of fun, and I'm glad I did it.

I wonder who's going to win the egg hunt this year. Abigail has won the competition something like 5 years in a row, and shows no sign of slowing down - I'll have to ask her about maybe letting Jas or Vincent win, since they're old enough to make the most of the egg hunt now.

That's all for now - I'll write about the festival tomorrow morning.

Sincerely...

\-----

"Penny."

I sign my name, and read over the diary entry I just wrote. I'm satisfied - no spelling errors or ink smudges - so I stash the diary underneath my pillow.

I've been getting better at writing in this book lately. It's a dense little thing that's bound in leather, and it has really good build quality - it's like a little leather brick, almost. I'm beginning to really like the process of writing down my thoughts.

I would have added more detail, but like I said - today's the Egg Festival, and I need to get ready. I head over to my set of drawers, and I dig out a yellow blouse with slightly more ornate stitching than usual. If I have a quick shower, I can probably have my hair dried and braided before the festival starts.

Sure enough, by the time I put my hair in braids, the festival is in full swing.

The best thing about my home is that it's right in the middle of town, so I only have to take a single step outside to be a part of most events. I have to watch my step when the Egg Festival comes around, though - I've stepped on my share of hidden eggs that have been left for the egg hunt.

My mother's standing over near the punchbowl, and I see her chuckle to herself. She looks around suspiciously, before pulling out a flask and tipping some brownish liquid into her cup - bleh. Then Jeff wanders over and strikes up a conversation with her.

I'm close enough to hear her mention spiking the punch, a common joke for her - though it hasn't always a joke. I remember when I was 17, and I got a mouthful of gin along with my glass of punch.

I, uhh... I don't really drink the punch at this festival any more.

\-------

I do love the Egg Festival when it comes around, though. There's a large picture of a rabbit with its face cut out, and you can stand behind it and get your picture taken with your face peeking through the hole. I take some time to lift Jas and Vincent up to get their pictures taken, and I get one of my own afterwards.

Gus has cooked an all-you-can-eat egg-based buffet for the town - boiled eggs, fried eggs, poached eggs, scrambled eggs, eggs Benedict etc. Maru really loves deviled eggs, but I think they would upset my stomach - of course, she tries to get me to taste one every year when the festival rolls around.

After a light meal, it's time for the egg hunt. Abigail is gone before I can speak with her about the kids - it looks like Jas and Vincent are going home empty-handed this year.

But then I look over, and I see Jeff standing at the starting line too. So he likes egg hunting as well? Well, if nothing else, he might be able to give Abigail a run for her money. Maybe he had an egg hunt event where he used to live, and has had enough practice to beat her - without her winning streak, she might let the kids take home first prize when next year's festival comes around. I'm sure Sam and Maru would be thankful as well - they've been losing to her for years, to the point where they only take part in the egg hunt nowadays to try and break her winning streak.

Mayor Lewis reads off a little speech about the annual egg hunt, and the contestants are off! Abigail is the first contestant to leave, followed by Sam, Maru, Jeff and the kids. Sam is right on Abigail's coattails for most of it, though it seems like Jeff managed to overtake him partway through.

Mayor Lewis eventually blows his whistle, and the contestants all return to the middle of town. He counts through each basket, and the winner is...

"Abigail!"

The kids look a bit downcast as the Mayor announces the victor, but he offers them both some chocolate as a consolation prize. The rest of the contestants get a good-natured handshake.

Jeff did pretty well for his first year - second place, right off the bat. Sam seems a bit upset about that, since he ended up in third place.

\----------

The festival goes on for another few hours, with my mother going home early thanks to her earlier party trick. As the sun goes down, I see Jeff going back to the farm - so I rush home and grab my strawberry plant.

"Hey! Excuse me, can you please wait?"

Jeff turns around as I dash up to him. I'm a bit out of breath, and I spilled some soil on myself when I scrambled for the plant.

"Oh, uhh... Hey there." He stammers out a sentence, and he seems to tense up a little.

Catching my breath, I offer him the plant.

"Here - I thought it would be nice to get you a house-warming gift."

He looks over the plant with a slightly confused look on his face. I chirp back up after a few seconds of silence.

"It's a strawberry plant - I read about it in a book from the library, they grow during Spring. I figured you were busy trying to clear the land on your farm, so you might not have the time to grow a lot of plants of your own right now - I thought that this would be a good gift for you."

He looks down at the plant, then at me. He seems a bit embarrassed, but a grateful smile flashes across his face all the same.

"Oh, thank you so much! That's so considerate!"

I'm glad my gift went over well with him. He seems a bit nervous, or at lease unaccustomed to receiving gifts - but he seems alright when he opens up a bit.

Bidding him an enthusiastic farewell, I head back home.

My mom's passed out on the foldout couch when I get home, with her snoring echoing around the inner walls of the trailer. She must have had a lot to drink today.

"..."

After making a quick and quiet pit-stop to the bathroom to brush my teeth, I dash towards my room and close the door behind me.

For a second, I contemplate opening my diary and writing a second entry for today. Maybe I can amend the entry I made earlier to add in what happened at the Egg Festival.

But I feel bad about adding a post-script addition to my prior entry, like I'm weakening the structure of the page. It's too late to write in another diary entry, anyway - I feel really sleepy. I ate a lot of food today at the festival, and I had a lot of fun. And frankly, that last little sprint I did with the strawberry plant really took the wind out of my sails.

I reach under my pillow to see that my diary is still there, and I move it closer to the edge of my bed. I don't want to bring my head down onto my pillow and bash it against a small, dense brick of leather.

With everything in place, I slip into my bed and sink my head into my pillow. With the way my eyes keep fluttering, it won't be long before...

Umm... before I...

Zzzzzzz........

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really happy with how this chapter turned out. The plan was always to stick to the diary entries, but the town events are special and it grants me an interesting opportunity to better develop the characters.
> 
> And that's ultimately the premise of the story - diary entries, broken up intermittently by first-hand accounts of life through Penny's eyes.
> 
> On a different note - I've resumed production of the fanfiction. I didn't actually have a sixteenth chapter after all, just a title in my phone memos. I've finished that chapter and chapter 17, and I'm up to chapter 18 now. Without giving anything away, the latest chapters take place in Summer.
> 
> A part of me worries that I'm losing the voice of the main character, which is worrying. I want the quality of this story to be fairly consistent all the way through. But I'm happy that I'm writing at all, to be honest, and there'll be plenty of time to edit things in the future.
> 
> I also started playing Stardew Valley again recently - I approached it as research for Perfect Cents, but it quickly spiralled out of control. Over the course of three days, I've managed to plant and harvest over 3,000 crops - I shipped 1,302 Starfruits! This is bonkers. I feel kinda bad about how hard I've hit Stardew Valley, to be honest, so I think I'll be slowing down again.
> 
> Chapters will be returning to weekly uploads now, so tune in next Tuesday for another installment of Perfect Cents!


	7. Day 14 of Spring

Dear Diary,

The Egg Festival was a big hit, like every year. The buffet was great, I got to see Maru and Sam try to beat Abigail at the Egg Hunt - she won, of course - and my house-warming gift for Jeff seemed to go over well. He participated in the Egg Hunt as well, and got pretty close to beating Abigail. He seems to be settling in well - I'm glad.

Mom had a bit too much to drink and went home early - I saw her tipping liquor into her punch glass yesterday, and I imagine she had more to drink over the course of the festival.

I've tried to talk to her about her drinking before, but things tend to get heated when the subject comes up. I understand why - who wants to get lectured by their children, and what right do I have to interfere with what she does with her free time? But even so, I worry about her.

She woke up without much of a headache this morning. Maybe yesterday's buffet helped to soak up the alcohol she was drinking, and I'm sure her early bedtime helped as well. As long as she's okay, I suppose.

I'm giving Jas and Vincent another day to relax after the Egg Festival. They'd be too worn out to pay attention today, and I think it'll be good for me to take a day off as well. I might have to add some more stuff to tomorrow's lesson plan, though...

Well, that's about it. I don't know what I should do today - maybe I'll go see Sam, or read a book.

Sincerely, Penny.


	8. Day 17 of Spring

Dear Diary,

I went to see Jeff at his farm today. I wanted to see how he was settling in at home, and maybe see how my little strawberry bush was doing as well. Sam wanted to hang out today, so I ran the idea past him and he tagged along.

I haven't been to the farm in years - it's been abandoned since I was a little girl, and because of that, it's been a giant mess for as long as I can remember. It was surprising to see the farm in a presentable state - Jeff's cleared a small patch of land right in front of his house, and there are signs of further progress around that patch. The field is very much a work in progress, but it's already looking better than it has in years.

We caught him planting some seeds - I guess he's finally got enough room to begin growing crops, which is great news. He greeted me and Sam as we came through the gates, and we spoke for a while.

It turns out that the strawberry bush produced its first harvest yesterday - Jeff says he's going to wait for the next batch of strawberries to bake a pie with them. I'm glad to see that my gift is being put to good use.

We had a good chat, until Sam told a story about me getting lost on the farm when we were kids. It made me a bit uncomfortable, and I left soon afterwards.

From there, I went shopping - tomorrow is Mom's birthday, so I had to go get some ingredients to make a cake. I ran into Willy while I was in Pierre's shop, and he mentioned finding an old fishing rod of his.

He asked me if I would have any use for it. I've never really been fishing, so I don't know if I'd get much use out of a fishing rod. He said that I could go fishing with him some time to see if I liked it, and if I did he'd let me keep the rod.

A part of me doesn't like the idea of fishing - I'll gladly eat fish, but something about dragging one up on a hook is uncomfortable to me. At the same time, though, the idea is a bit exciting. It's an activity I haven't really tried before, and I've read my fair share of books where characters relax and unwind over a lazy day of fishing.

I'm a bit conflicted, but a part of me wants to chase that romaticised image of fishing and see where it takes me. <strike>It certainly wouldn't hurt to try. Well, it'll hurt the fish, but</strike>

Anyway, that was my day. I'm just about to start cooking dinner for me and Mom. She usually gets back from the Tavern around this time, so it'll be nice for her to come home to a home-cooked meal. Hopefully she'll be in a good mood for her birthday tomorrow.

Sincerely, Penny.


	9. Day 18 of Spring

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, just gonna go out of my way to say that this chapter is a bit more indulgent than the usual slice-of-life sort of thing I tend to go for? Like with the other chapters I'm going for more of a realistic, casual bent, while this one might seem a bit more dramatic in comparison.

Dear diary,

Today was my mom's birthday. I got up extra early to make her a cake - it's not easy to make a cake quietly, especially when my mom sleeps on a fold-out couch a few feet away from the oven, but I definitely tried my best. I did a lot of the mixing in my bedroom to muffle the noise. She woke up while it was in the oven - I guess I lost the element of surprise, but she was grateful for the gesture.

She wasn't in the best mood when she woke up - she spent a lot of time at the bar last night, and I think she was pretty hungover. I had made some pink icing - it's her favorite - but she told me not to bother icing the cake. She had a slice a few minutes after it was cooked and kinda... mumbled a compliment towards me, but then she went right back to sleep. I don't doubt that she meant it, but something just seemed really wrong and I couldn't do anything to identify or ease it.

It's... hard. Seeing her like this, I mean. She's been depressed for a long time, but never quite as bad as this. Other birthdays had their downsides, especially when she drank, but it seems like all she wanted to do today was sleep. She seemed really... defeated.

I iced the cake anyway. She's always loved pink icing - maybe I was wrong to do it after she told me not to. I don't know. When it was done, I put it in the fridge and left for a walk.

I went to see if Maru was home, but as I came up to her place, Sebastian stormed out the front door in a really bad mood. He must have been fighting with Demitrius again. Things would be a bit strained if I visited Maru now, but aside from her house or my usual reading spot, there weren't a lot of places in town to relax.

I thought about going to the library, and I started walking away - but I remembered that Sebastian gave me this diary, and I haven't gotten to thank him yet. I almost never see him out and about, so I wandered back into town and had a look around to see where he went.

After a while, I found him down at the beach. He was sitting with his legs hanging over the side of the dock - I've noticed he comes here when it's rainy, but almost never on sunny days.

I sat down next to him. He seemed a bit distant, and more mopey than he usually is. He greeted me, at least, and we sat in silence for a while. I thanked him for the diary after a few minutes of silence, and he said that it was no trouble - he already had a couple blank ones lying around and that he thought I might need one.

I think he has decent intuition when it comes to this sort of thing, because he was right - I never considered the benefits of keeping a journal before, and I feel like this has been a really healthy, cathartic way to express my feelings. I said as much to him at the beach, and I told him about my mom and how I felt about her birthday. He seemed to sympathise.

He told me about how he and Demitrius have been clashing a lot lately, and he said that he feels like Maru might not like him either. I did know about him and Demetrius not getting along - I've been over at their house with Maru during some of their arguments. But I didn't know he felt like Maru didn't like him.

She doesn't always talk about Sebastian, but I've yet to hear her say a bad word about him - I told him that straight away. He said thanks, but the mood I got from him was a bit more withdrawn than before so I dropped the subject. We sat there for about half an hour more, just hanging out and enjoying the cool ocean breeze.

Eventually, though, I had to leave - I wanted to go home and see if Mom was awake yet. But before I went, Sebastian got up and pulled me in for a hug - followed by a quiet "Thanks for listening". It was... a bit odd, to be sure. But I appreciated the company, and I thanked him too.

Mom was awake when I got home. She had another slice of cake in front of her, and a warmer smile was on her face. She saw me, and the look on her face turned a bit... I'm not sure how to describe it. She looked a bit off-kilter? And she apologized for being a bit crabby earlier. Honestly, I might have overreacted - I think we were both just a little sad.

Her birthday was a lot cheerier after that. Gus came around with a steaming hot plate of Glazed Yams for her, and while she still went for a birthday drink, she was a lot happier than I had seen her for a while. It was nice.

Today was a rollercoaster of emotions, and I'm ready for bed. Mom's at the bar, but she's well-fed and it's her birthday. I might have overreacted this morning and gotten sad over nothing - but hopefully a good night's rest will help wash those bad feelings away.

Sincerely, Penny.


End file.
